By Paula Bianchi –

Keith didn’t take Lucy very far from her parent’s house for their first stop, when they materialized three blocks away, in the neighborhood park. The sun was slowly disappearing on the horizon making the few remaining clouds glow in a beautiful shade of crimson.

Lucy and Keith stood in the middle of the park, and they could see a scattering of living people with a slew of spirits wandering around among them.

“There are spirits everywhere.” Lucy said, with wonder.

Trying to take in the scene before her, Lucy didn’t know where to look first. Spirits of every shape and size were all around her. Some were clustered around the living, while others roamed around searching for a purpose. One spirit kept hanging himself from a tall, oak tree, which Lucy found quite disturbing.

Then, Lucy noticed a beautiful, living woman jogging towards them, with a tall, handsome, spirit of a man, dressed in a hospital gown, running with her. He looked at Lucy, and his smile widened, “Isn’t my wife hot?!” He said, as they passed by.

Lucy giggled at the sight of his bare, butt flashing between the opening of his gown with every stride.

“Did you hear what she was thinking, Lucy?” Keith asked.

“I didn’t get close enough to try.” It honestly didn’t occur to her to listen.

“You don’t have to be close. We can hear everyone, even the dead, from right here.” Keith said, as he gestured towards all the living and dead people in the park.

“So, I can hear everybody?” Lucy said, with a mild chuckle of disbelief. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“Do you remember what drives our world?” Keith quizzed her.

“Our thoughts.” Lucy answered. “I just have to ask, right?”

“Ask and you shall receive.” Keith moved away giving her some space.

Lucy quietly asked to hear everyone in the park. Suddenly, she could hear a symphony of thoughts overlapping each other. Every thought, was floating through her ears.

“Can you hear them?” Keith twisted the curl at the end of his mustache as he waited for an answer.

“Yes, but there’s too many of them. It’s hard to understand what anyone is saying.” Lucy was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

“Focus in on a couple of them and push all the others away.” Keith instructed.

Lucy slowly worked her way through the maze of thoughts, until, she could clearly hear the thoughts of a living woman struggling with something that was happening in her life. Scanning her surroundings, Lucy finally found the source of these thoughts.

She was sitting at a picnic table, off in the far corner of the park, with a couple of suitcases by her side. She wore a pair of jeans, that were torn at the knees, with sneakers, and a pink hoody jacket that she had pulled over her head to hide her face. When she looked up, Lucy was shocked by what she saw. This woman had a black eye with some cuts and bruises all over her face and neck, but she wasn’t alone.

Sitting next to her, was the spirit of a woman, who looked to be in her late 40’s, dressed in clothes that came straight out of the 50’s, only, they were tattered and torn, and to Lucy’s horror, covered in blood just like her face. The bruising around her neck was in the shape of two hands. At that moment, Lucy realized someone had strangled her to death. She listened to their thoughts as she approached them.

“I can’t call. What’s going to happen to me? Where am I supposed to go?” The woman played with her cell as she debated in her head.

“Call them!” The spirit pleaded. “Call them or he’s going to kill you! You know it. Please, call right now.”

“Hi. I’m Lucy. Is there anything I can do to help?” She asked the spirit, while trying to hide the discomfort she felt over her obvious state of being.

“I’m Gladys, and I was drawn to this woman because she’s being abused just like I was. I don’t want to see her end up like me, so I’m trying to get her to call the number, she just found on her phone, for help.” Gladys turned her attention back to the battered woman.

“Is that possible?” Lucy asked Keith.

“It most certainly is.” He answered.

From her days of being a lawyer, Lucy had represented a number of abused women, so she was very familiar with the battle they fight within themselves to leave. She was also very aware of how fearful they are that nothing will work, and they’ll end up having to stay with their abuser.   

Lucy looked back at the woman and searched her thoughts for her name. It didn’t take long for her to hear the name, Tami.

At first, she wanted to ask Keith how she could help, but she thought wiser of it because she already knew his answer. Our thoughts drive our world, but can they affect the living? She looked at Keith, and he just smiled at her. She could feel he knew what she was thinking, but he sure wasn’t going to volunteer any information.

Lucy took a seat across from Tami at the picnic table. She noticed that Gladys had laid her hands upon Tami’s right shoulder, so the thought occurred to her to do the same. As she was deciding where to put her hands, she was suddenly aware of colored rays of energy, emitting off of Tami’s body, at least two feet all around her. There was a spot around Tami’s left elbow, though, where it was void of this energy.

Before she could ask Keith about it, she heard in her head, “That’s a weak spot in her aura. Spirits can attach themselves to the living through these openings.”

Slowly, Lucy reached in through the hole with her right hand, so she could touch Tami’s left elbow. Instantly, Tami’s thoughts rushed through her as Lucy adjusted her energy to match Tami’s. Once she did that, she could also hear Gladys trying to influence her to get help.

Looking down at Tami’s phone, Lucy could see an 800 number. It must belong to an organization that helps battered women, she thought. Tami was so close to her salvation. All she had to do was push the button, but she was frozen with fear.

Lucy could hear all the threats from Tami’s abuser running through her brain. “Don’t believe him.” Lucy told Tami. “Don’t let him control you anymore. Call for help. Get away from him forever.”

With Lucy and Gladys sending all this positive energy, Lucy could feel Tami’s energy growing stronger. “That’s right, girl, you’ve got this. Only you can take care of yourself. It’s time to free yourself from this constant fear.” Lucy encouraged her.

“You don’t want to end up like me.” Gladys added. “I’ll help you to do what I never did. It’s time to take your life back.”

Lucy felt Tami’s resolve grow as she squared her shoulders and pushed the button on her phone. She explained her situation to the woman on the other end. The woman comforted Tami and assured her that she was doing the right thing by calling. She offered to send someone to pick her up from the park, and Tami quickly accepted. After Tami hung up, Lucy pulled her hand out of her aura, then looked at Gladys to do the same.

“I think I’ll stay with her for a while to make sure she never goes back.” Gladys said, before she dove into Tami’s aura and disappeared.

“Where’d she go?” Lucy wondered, hoping it wasn’t where she thought it was.

“Gladys attached herself to Tami because of her weakened aura. She feels she can help her stay away from her abuser.” Keith stated, as a matter of fact.

“But what does that do to Tami?” Lucy didn’t know if she liked what she was learning about her new world.

“Well, right now, Gladys can help keep Tami away from her abuser, but if she doesn’t choose to leave when Tami is feeling stronger, then, she may bring Tami down again with her own fears, which can hold Tami back in life.” Keith explained. “There is a healthy balance that can occur between us and the living. It depends on the spirit’s agenda, and how they choose to use their free will. We are no different than the living. There’s good and bad in all of us.”

“You’re saying it’s good for Tami to have a spirit attached to her?” Lucy thought this couldn’t be true.

“Welcome to our world.” Keith laughed. “Just about every living person has one of us attached to them. Maybe even more than one. Some can have four or more spirits attached to them at a time. Tami’s lucky. Gladys could have been worse.”

“How could there be anything worse than that?” Lucy looked incredulous.

“Would you like to see?” Keith held his hand out to her again.

Without hesitation, Lucy took it, and they disappeared.

Join Lucy next week in part 2 of, The Guided Tour. Thanks for the visit. Hope you love Lucy as much as I love writing her story. Bye for now.

Email: Remyel@hotmail.com